Yesterday Denis and Gary took Sloan and Quarrel for their first time in the Open Obedience ring trying for their CDXs.

The dogs did alright, Sloan broke her drop on recall though but we weren't too shocked, she's been having some trouble understanding that exercise.

Quarrel downed when Gary returned for the long sit and then got up to follow dad on the long down. He was just all confused and to make matters worse the ring steward tried to catch him by cornering and reaching for his collar. Quarrel growled and sidestepped which isn't surprising for most dogs in that situation.

So, today they thought, hey it's a new day!

Sloan and Denis nailed their routine, really just great. She lost a half point for the broad jump after they only used 3 boards at 48 inches which caused Sloan to step over them but Denis commented on it to the judge and the judge let him re-do the exercise with the proper 4 boards which Sloan nailed.

Quarrel had a bit of trouble with his down on recall because yesterday he watched Sloan and thought it would be really funny to mess with Gary today so he decided to return to heel instead, silly maligator.

Then came the sits and downs. Well, at minute 2:30 Sloan got up, which she's never done before but of course saves it for the ring to try. The steward well aware of not cornering and reaching for the dog today just said, "Your dog is up" and did not clarify who's dog. So, poor Gary, nervous after yesterday, said, "Quarrel, here!" and along came Quarrel and Sloan.

Poor guys, lol, they're on their way home now.

Lesson of the story, while in a hidden long sit or down wait for clarification on who's dog is actually up.

I don't think it is unusual for ring stewards to try to prevent dogs who break from being loose, especially on an out of sight stay because of the risk of the dog interfering with (and potentially causing a fight with) the other dogs in the ring.

That said, in this case the ring steward should have just told the handler his dog was up since it sounds like Quarrel was just following his owner who was still in the ring?

The dog was attempting to leave the ring, the handler had just reached the hide. I have seen several judges who denied the stewards from touching dogs and even had one chastise one for trying to grab Backup by saying, "You may only body block a dog attempting to leave the ring, never touch them." I've also heard judges say you can't block because if the dog comes back on it's own it's merely a point loss and not a DQ but with a steward blocking you can't tell if the dog is returning of their own will.

I would definitely understand (and it states it in the rules) if the dog was approaching and disturbing other dogs. I think beyond the immediate danger to another dog it's superintendent by superintendent and their level of comfort with steward liability.

Either way, it happens and the fact is the steward couldn't have messed up if the dog hadn't whoops'd but none the less a crappy experience. Thank god the second day they thought better of touching but I do wish for the other handlers sake they would have said which dog was up. lol

The dog was attempting to leave the ring, the handler had just reached the hide. I have seen several judges who denied the stewards from touching dogs and even had one chastise one for trying to grab Backup by saying, "You may only body block a dog attempting to leave the ring, never touch them." I've also heard judges say you can't block because if the dog comes back on it's own it's merely a point loss and not a DQ but with a steward blocking you can't tell if the dog is returning of their own will.

I'm a little confused - breaking stays in AKC is always an NQ?

I've definitely seen dogs being held by their collars near the ring entrance. I don't think I've ever seen a dog allowed to just wander out of the ring on out of sights.

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Originally Posted by AdrianneIsabel

Either way, it happens and the fact is the steward couldn't have messed up if the dog hadn't whoops'd but none the less a crappy experience. Thank god the second day they thought better of touching but I do wish for the other handlers sake they would have said which dog was up. lol